Understanding Childhood Cancer

Childhood cancers make up less than 1 percent of all cancers diagnosed each year. About 10,380 children in the United States under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer in 2015.

Because of major treatment advances in recent decades, more than 80 percent of children with cancer now survive five years or more, but survival rates vary depending on the type of cancer, the specific cancer treatments used, the doses of cancer treatment, and the child’s age at the time of treatment.

This “Patient Education” tear sheet was produced in collaboration with the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org).